Torifu smiled faintly after hearing this. "Maybe he's even stronger than you. How many years has it been since you last used ninjutsu? You must be rusty by now."
Amado naturally understood that his elder brother was teasing him, so he chuckled and said, "Regardless, I'm still a jōnin. If a kid like him can beat me, I'll eat a TV while standing on my head."
Afterwards, Amado called over Yahiko, Konan, and Sasori.
"What's wrong, Uncle Amado?"
Amado waved his hand. "Nothing much. You three are all disciples of a Kage, so your strengths should be pretty similar. It's a good chance for a small spar right now."
"Huh?" Yahiko and Konan were very surprised and confused after hearing this. They were going to war in a few days; surely they wouldn't be sparring now?
Sasori, however, looked eager to try, seemingly very interested.
"What's with the 'huh'? It's just a friendly match, just to a tap. And I also want to see how strong you've become."
Knowing they couldn't refuse, Yahiko and Konan could only nod. "Alright, then let's do it."
Torifu also nodded at this. "You three, regardless of the outcome, I'll give you some small rewards. Don't get too excited; they're just some cheap trinkets."
Despite his words, the three children were still very excited, while the Kazekage, on the other hand, had no reaction.
After all, he also felt that for such a small spar, the Hokage wouldn't give anything valuable.
It would just be small gifts, merely encouragement.
Torifu stood up and led everyone to a large training ground in the Kumotsuru Clan's backyard.
It had just been completed, intended for Minato or Yahiko's use in the future.
It was also perfectly suitable as a temporary sparring ground.
"Yahiko, you'll go first with Sasori." Torifu immediately decided on the contestants.
Compared to Konan, Yahiko's strength was definitely a bit higher.
Not to mention, he had acquired Boil Release, adding more offensive techniques.
By letting Yahiko try first, Torifu could form a judgment about Sasori.
"Yes, Master."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Both were very polite, greeting the 'judges' before heading to the center of the training ground.
"Watching them, I can't help but recall my own sparring matches during the Five Kage Summit when I was a child. Though I was the youngest at the time, I defeated the Second Kazekage, Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Third Mizukage."
"It brings back such fond memories."
The Kazekage on the side smacked his lips. Good heavens, how was he supposed to respond to that?
But the Hokage's strength was indeed truly formidable; the other four Kage couldn't even defeat him when he was a child.
He wondered if the Hokage's disciples would be as strong as him.
The spar began quickly. The two first bowed slightly, and as Torifu gave the command, Sasori quickly pulled out his scroll, unrolled it, and threw it into the air!
Four sealing tags were neatly arranged on the scroll, and the next second, as a puff of white smoke dispersed, four extremely intricate puppets appeared in mid-air.
And Sasori immediately released chakra threads, connecting them!
"One person controlling four puppets. As expected of Chiyo-sama's grandson, wouldn't you say?"
A puppeteer trained for many years would find controlling one puppet with one hand to be their limit. Yet, Sasori could control four simultaneously at such a young age.
In the future, he would definitely be able to inherit the White Secret Technique of Chiyo.
Seeing this, the Kazekage also said proudly, "This child has shown extremely high talent in puppetry since he was young. Even Chiyo-sama was greatly surprised."
On the training ground, Yahiko looked at Sasori opposite him with some surprise; these four puppets still put some pressure on him.
Seeing Yahiko hesitate to make a move, Sasori decided to attack first.
With a flick of his right hand, two puppets instantly darted out. With a light flick of his fingers, countless mechanisms set within the puppets began to operate.
Several steel needles shot out from inside the puppets, rapidly assailing Yahiko.
Seeing this, Yahiko immediately dodged sideways and began constantly moving his body, making it difficult for the puppets to target him.
And he also began rapidly forming hand signs. "Water Release: Water Arrow Rain!"
"Red Secret Technique: Heavenly Flame!"
A puppet suddenly appeared in front of Yahiko, and then spewed a large amount of flames from its mouth.
But Yahiko's ninjutsu was already complete. The next second, he exhaled a large amount of water from his mouth, but before it could condense into water arrows, it directly collided with the flames.
It immediately doused the puppet's flames.
Seeing this, Sasori could only secretly lament his bad luck, then quickly withdrew the malfunctioning puppet and had the other three take its place.
This puppetry control was extremely skilled; Torifu, watching from the side, couldn't discern any unfamiliarity, which meant Sasori's control of the four puppets was by no means forced or improvised.
But rather truly effortless.
"This spar is going to be quite a sight."
"Hokage-sama is right. Yahiko's reactions are very quick. He hasn't been hit or restrained by Sasori once. It must be due to your excellent guidance, Hokage-sama."
Torifu smiled and shook his head. "Not at all, not at all."
The three puppets rapidly closed in on Yahiko, forming a pincer attack, leaving Yahiko no good place to hide.
Sasori also saw his plan succeed, and a smile appeared on his face. One of his puppets possessed a sealing ability; just a few more steps, and it could be deployed along with the other puppets!
But plans always encounter unexpected changes. Yahiko exhaled a pure white mist from his mouth, which also carried an acrid smell.
The Kazekage was very surprised to see this scene and immediately turned his head to look at the Hokage.
He found it a bit hard to believe that the Hokage had actually passed on his clan's secret jutsu to his disciple?
But Torifu merely shook his head. "It's not Cloud Release; it's this kid's own Kekkei Genkai, Boil Release."
This...
The Kazekage was somewhat speechless again. Is it really that easy for Konoha ninja to awaken Kekkei Genkai? They're popping up everywhere, as if they're free.
"My apologies, I was a bit out of line. It does look very similar to your Cloud Release, Hokage."
Torifu also nodded in agreement, saying, "That's right. However, mine is a Kekkei Tōta, which has one more nature transformation than his. Just one additional nature makes a world of difference."
Afterwards, both of them stopped talking and quietly watched the spar in the arena.
When Sasori saw the white mist appear, he immediately became wary.
The white mist obscured his vision; he could no longer determine Yahiko's position with his eyes.
And also...
Sasori quickly recalled three puppets, only to see them covered in corrosive marks, their outer shells somewhat discolored.
Decorations like hair had even melted away.
"What an incredible ninjutsu! What exactly is this thing?"
Sasori wasn't angry, merely curious about this ninjutsu; he had never seen such a ninjutsu before.
However, trying to defeat him with just this one move was still a bit premature.
"Red Secret Technique: Scattering Snow!"
[T/N: White Secret Technique is skillset of Chiyo. Red is the skillset of Sasori.]